Crowdfunding raise hits $1m in 72 hours for Perth immersive entertainment group Escape This

Immersive entertainment company Escape This has broken the $1 million mark in just 72 hours of launching an equity crowdfunding campaign to fund the Perth-based company’s expansion into Melbourne and Brisbane next year.

The funding round, undertaken on the OnMarket platform, surged past $300,000 in the first three hours with more than 200 investors backing the business.

The total currently stands at more than $1.16 million and 253 investors as the company targets a minimum raise of $1.5 million and a maximum of $3 million.

Founded in 2020 by brothers Bernie and Daniel Janes, Escape This has grown from a single venue in Perth to four in two states, including two in Sydney.

The company provides immersive, cinematic escape rooms that blend film, theatre and strategy. The venues have attracted more than 370,000 guests since inception.

Escape This, which employs a team of more than 80 staff, boosted revenue from $55,000 in FY20 to more than $6 million in FY25 with $1.6 million generated in the last three months alone.

CEO Bernie Janes says the response to the crowdfunding campaign shows a “strong appetite for innovation, even in a cautious funding market”.

“To surpass $1 million in just three days tells us that investors see what we have built,” says Janes.

“This is not just Australia’s most immersive escape room business, but a scalable entertainment model with global potential.

“We launched just as the world shut down, but our team innovated, grew, and delivered blockbuster experiences that kept people coming back. This raise will allow us to take Escape This nationwide.”

The company has already earmarked Melbourne’s CBD for its next venue.

Escape This also boasts the largest escape room venue in the southern hemisphere with its Perth CBD site and Australia’s only haunted escape room at Northbridge.

The company’s flagship Perth CBD venue generated $2.4 million in revenue alone last year, aided by the completion of the Escape room factory.

Escape This says it is now building movie-grade sets at scale, which enables the company to roll out new sets and venues at a faster pace.

“This raise is not just about expansion; it is about continuing to innovate,” says Janes.

“We have proven that we can deliver the most immersive escape experiences in Australia, but the opportunity ahead is to scale rapidly while keeping the cinematic quality that makes Escape This unique.”

Apart from expanding into Melbourne and Brisbane, Escape This also plans to use the capital raised to add new rooms to its existing facilities.